YATE Town's incredible upturn in form has seen them move to within two points from the play-off places following their 4-1 victory over Melksham Town on Saturday.

Having languished at the bottom of the table at the end of 2023, Darren Mulling's men have now gone eight league games without defeat, including six wins in a row, to move them to within touching distance of the top five.

And it was a brilliant display to see off Melksham at the weekend in their latest victory.

In front of the second-best home crowd of the season, 419, it only took six minutes before in-form striker Nick McCootie put the home side in front. The visitors were caught trying to play out from the back and a misplaced pass enabled McCootie to pounce and roll the ball into the net from an acute angle.

The Bluebells extended their lead on 26 minutes when Calum-English-Brown capped a fine run with a finish to match. He then struck the post from 25 yards as the hosts looked to kill the game off.

But the away side reduced the deficit against the run of play when Ralph Graham scored with a terrific header.

Yate thought they had re-established their two-goal advantage moments before half-time when Dylan Lewis reacted quickest to English-Brown’s free-kick coming back off the bar, but the linesman's flag cut short the celebrations.

Early in the second half, Graham shot wide from a good position for Melksham but Yate continued to play excellent football and a fine move on the hour saw Lewis and McCootie combine for Finley Bell to score from close range.

McCootie had a chance to extend the lead further when he shot wide following a great run by English-Brown who went past three defenders.

Thompson fired wide for the visitors in a rare attack but following another flowing move by the hosts, Bell set up Ollie Jenkins to score Yate Town’s fourth goal with fifteen minutes remaining.